Paralympics: Colombian Erica Castaño Wins Gold Medal in Discus Throw
Erica Castaño, Paris, France, Aug. 30, 2024. Photo: X/ @VarskySports
August 30, 2024 Hour: 2:34 pm
Sixteen years ago, she suffered a gunshot injury that impaired the mobility of her legs.
On Friday, Erica Castaño was crowned champion in the discus throw in the F55 category for athletes with physical disabilities, becoming the first Colombian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games.
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The 38-year-old athlete redeemed herself at the Stade de France with this victory, after finishing in fourth place at both the Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. This win also secured Colombia’s second gold medal in athletics, following Jose Gregorio Lemos’s victory in the javelin throw.
The athlete from Medellin won with a throw of 26.70 meters on her third attempt, beating China’s Feixia Dong, who took the silver medal with a throw of 26.67 meters.
Sixteen years ago, Castaño suffered a gunshot injury that impaired the mobility of her legs. She arrived in Paris as the favorite to win, thanks to her title at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games and the gold medal she earned at the 2024 World Championships in Kobe.
“This is a great victory for me and my family. I know they expected it in Tokyo, but we are all human and can make mistakes. Today, I am a Paralympic champion, and I am super happy,” said Castaño after winning the gold.
In third place, with a mark of 25.81 meters, was Mexico’s Rosa María Guerrero. This 39-year-old athlete suffers from paraplegia due to transverse myelitis, a condition caused by a bacterial infection that affected her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed in half of her body.
She began competing in elite athletics in 2016, and five years later, at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, she won bronze in the discus throw with a mark of 24.11 meters, a result she repeated in Paris while improving her mark.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
